Homegrown performers shine when Denton flips the switch on the holiday season

Circle next Friday, Nov. 30, on your
calendar. Denton has a date with twinkling lights, a night full of music and
piping hot wassail.

The Denton Holiday Lighting Festival is
the night when city leaders join merry music-makers, tiny dancers and loads of
families to flip the switch. Come 5:30 p.m. on Nov. 30, Denton will be wearing
wreaths, lights and a festive air for the holidays.

This year marks the second year that the
Denton Holiday Festival Association will start the holidays on a Friday — a
move the group made last year to encourage more families to step out for
carols, community performances and visits with Santa Claus.

The local Convention and Visitors Bureau
again entices Denton’s neighbors to the south with a A-train campaign
advertising the festival.

The party starts with music by the
Denton Community Band — what would the holiday lighting be without the
Christmas carol sing-along led by Carol Lynn Mizell? — and ends with more
music.

This is the second festival with David
Pierce as the man at the bandstand of the Denton Holiday Music Spectacular.
This year, the Denton musician and composer said the band will roll out some
dance tunes.

“Last year was definitely a learning
experience,” said Pierce, who composed and arranged the music for the finale of
the Holiday Lighting Festival. “Everything I set out to accomplish — I noticed
when things would hit a lull. I watched the pacing of the show and enjoyed some
of the really beautiful songs.”

The 2011 festival was the first time
that the concert finale offered a smorgasbord of local talent — of the
Grammy-winning and indie sort.

Bonnie Norris scored the crowd’s
affection with “Santa Baby,” and Jeffrey Barnes quieted the crowd with “Santa
Got Lost in Texas.” Bubba Hernandez showed off his bluesy voice with an R&B
number, and Sarah Jaffe sang Pierce’s moody arrangement of “O Holy Night.”
Steve Wiest, the director of the University of North Texas One O’clock Lab
Band, got off to a pitchy start — thanks to a damp and trombone-molesting cold
front — but he warmed up and made up for it with his jazzy solo. It was a
portion of Denton’s Midlake that gifted the revelers with a rousing and hopeful
rendition of John Lennon’s “So This Is Christmas (War Is Over)” before sending
Denton holiday revelers home.

Much of the lineup returns to next
week’s Holiday Music Spectacular. Pierce will conduct the 11-piece Holiday
Lighting Orchestra.

Paul Slavens, a Denton musical
institution and KKXT-FM radio host, returns to the lineup of featured
performers. Last year he did a reading of Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole
Christmas.

“I loved Paul doing The Grinch. … We
zipped through it,” Pierce said. “It’s not a short piece, but Paul was great.
And I’d love for The Grinch to become a big visual thing for the kids.”

Slavens isn’t just a versatile musician
who plays with a number of local acts — he’s got enough character voices to
supply a radio play.

Members of Midlake will be back. Barnes
and Wiest return, too. Pierce recruited Slobberbone singer-guitarist Brent Best
to the stage.

“I was talking to Brent about doing the
show, and he said, ‘I even have this holiday song called “The Gum Drop.” I
could do that if you wanted.’ Of course I wanted him to,” Pierce said.

If he gets his fair share of Denton
magic on stage, Pierce said musicians might start offering to perform at the
lighting.

“I envisioned this thing as more or less
a concert where these talented musicians who live in Denton perform holiday
music they’ve written, instead of it being their take of a famous Christmas
song. You want that, too,” Pierce said, “but part of the reason this event
looks a certain way — almost like a Norman Rockwell painting — is because it’s
about Denton.

“My vision has been for this concert to
be Denton musicians doing original holiday music. How cool and how magical is
it to have this kind of little town where you have this vibe, where people get
together and play music and it’s great?”

WASSAIL FEST

The Denton Main Street Association’s
Wassail Fest offers free tastings of the warm mulled cider drink at downtown
businesses from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Nov. 30. People can vote for their favorite
recipe. Visit www.dentonmainstreet.org
.

TOY DRIVE

Denton County Toy Store, a nonprofit
organization serving children of qualified families, will collect donations at
the southeast corner of the Square, and at several drop-off locations prior to
the festival. Visit www.dentonholidaylighting.com/toy-drive-2
.

Parking:
Free parking is available at the parking lots of Wells Fargo Bank, at Oak and
Austin streets, and the Bayless-Selby House Museum, 317 W. Mulberry St. Parking
for those with disabilities is located on the west side of the Wells Fargo
building on Locust Street.

Public
transit: Free parking is also available at the
MedPark Station, 3220 MedPark Drive, and other A-train stations with a free
ride to the Downtown Denton Transit Center. Use the code word “mistletoe” to
ride the A-train and Connect bus service free on the night of Nov. 30.
Complimentary bus rides will be available from the transit center to the Square
area. For schedules and more information, visit www.dcta.net
.

FESTIVAL SCHEDULE

FESTIVAL STAGE

At the corner of Hickory and Locust
streets

5:30 to 5:45 p.m. — Denton Community Band

5:45 to 6 p.m. — Tree lighting

6
to 6:20 p.m. — Denton Community Band

6:30 to 6:50 p.m. — Festival Ballet of North
Central Texas

7
to 7:20 p.m. — Denton High School Jazz Band 1

7:30 to 7:50 p.m. — V-Krewe Brass Ensemble

PERFORMANCE STAGE

Main stage on the lawn of the Courthouse
on the Square

6:15 to 6:35 p.m. — Syncopated Ladies

6:45 to 7:05 p.m. — Glory of Zion Singers

7:40 to 8 p.m. — A Taste of Herb

8
to 9:30 p.m. — Denton Holiday Music Spectacular

DCTA CLOCK TOWER

At the Downtown Denton Transit Center,
604 E. Hickory St.

5:30 to 6 p.m. — Garage Band

6:10 to 6:40 p.m. — Katha Harris

DANCING IN THE STREETS PERFORMANCE AREA

At the corner of Locust and Oak streets

6
to 6:20 p.m. — Ryan High School Strutters

6:30 to 6:50 p.m. — Bonduris Music Instruction
and Production

7
to 7:20 p.m. — First Baptist Music Ministry

7:30
to 7:50 p.m. — House of Funk Theatre Company

WELLS FARGO BANK LOBBY

Inside the bank at the corner of Locust
and Hickory streets

6
to 6:20 p.m. — Strickland Jazz Band

6:30 to 6:50 p.m. — Strickland Middle School
Chamber Orchestra

7
p.m. to 7:20 p.m. — Handbells at Strickland

7:30 to 7:50 p.m. — Denton Community Choir

COMMISSIONERS COURTROOM

Inside the Courthouse on the Square

6
to 6:20 p.m. — Childbloom Guitar Ensemble

6:30 to 6:50 p.m. — Pulling Strings

7
to 7:20 p.m. — Sing Texas!

7:30 to 7:50 p.m. — Texas Woman’s University
Holiday Sign Choir

UNT ON THE SQUARE

109 S. Elm St.

6
to 7:30 p.m. — Seasonal music by University of North Texas College of Music
students

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